Last village center expected to open by mid-2014

The Woodlands Development Company announced Jan. 17 the grocery store tenant for the Creekside Park Village Center, the final village to be developed in The Woodlands.

H-E-B was announced by the Development Company as the major tenant, making the Creekside Park location the fourth store in The Woodlands.

"Based on [H-E-B's] long-running success in The Woodlands, we know they will undoubtedly continue to serve the community and add to the rich amenities planned for this center," said Alex Sutton, president of The Woodlands Development Company.

A construction date for the store has not been announced, but Susan Vreeland-Wendt, director of marketing for the Development Company, said the store would be completed in about nine months.

Now that H-E-B has been named as the anchor tenant, more announcements regarding tenants could be made soon. The Development Company is currently pre-leasing for the center and expects tenants to occupy the facility by mid-2014.

"There are already quite a few transactions in negotiation at this time, and we expect the H-E-B announcement to be the stimulus for even more," Vreeland-Wendt said.

Once construction on the village center begins, the project could be completed in about a year, she said.

According to the Development Company, the 100-acre village center will be one of the most scenic neighborhood centers developed within The Woodlands.

"The Creekside Park Village Center harkens back to the small towns in Texas and around America where commercial businesses surrounded a small public park know as the 'town square' or 'village green,'" Vreeland-Wendt said.

The shopping center will feature a village green that includes a tree-lined park and water feature, a 4,300-square-foot glass-walled restaurant, 52,000 square feet of retail space, and 28,000 square feet of office space. Other tenants may include a drug store anchor, professional offices and other retail developments.

The design of the thoroughfares around the Creekside Park Village Center are distinctive in The Woodlands, with the north and southbound lanes of Kuykendahl Road being split and the village center located in the middle.

"By splitting Kuykendahl Road into two narrow one-way roads, a stronger pedestrian connection will be maintained across Kuykendahl Road, linking both sides of the village and strengthening the linkage to the Mitchell Nature Preserve and now the village center," Vreeland-Wendt said.